In December 2007 the Victorian Government agreed to fund the Early Works carried out during winter 2008, committing $113 million.
The Early Works covered Central Goulburn 5-9 channels, Murray Valley 1-2 channels, Torrumbarry 1 channel, Pyramid-Boort 1 channel and Rochester-Campaspe 14 channel.
The works included:
- installation of 1000 automated gates mostly in the Central Goulburn Irrigation Area
- installation of 1000 on-farm meters for landowners in the Central Goulburn Irrigation Area
- plastic lining more than 5km of channel to reduce seapage and leakage
- upgrading the Torrumbarry and Murray Valley communications systems.
FutureFlow
Goulburn-Murray Water (G-MW) formed an alliance to deliver the Early Works. This alliance, known as FutureFlow is made up of G-MW, Transfield Services (Australia) Pty Ltd, Comdain Civil Constructions Pty Ltd and Sinclair Knight Merz. The FutureFlow alliance comprises leading water engineers, designers, construction companies and risk managers.